


Negatives

by Blueberry_Muffin_Massacre



Category: Infinity Train (Cartoon)
Genre: Context Spoilers, Freeform, It's kind of a mess, Panic Attacks, Season/Series 01 Spoilers, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:41:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22238038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blueberry_Muffin_Massacre/pseuds/Blueberry_Muffin_Massacre
Summary: Not all who remain are Apex.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 29





	1. The Echo Car

Welcome aboard, New Passenger! I'm your conductor! One!-/- _One..._ -/- Once you wipe those groggy little peepers, you'll probably have a lot of questions, Like...

* * *

The introductory video fizzled out on the pod. He was left sitting alone in the middle of nowhere. His mind was ablaze, thousands of questions. Anxiety. _Panic._ No, not panic, he's practiced this. He know how to deal with this. Empty the mind, focus on each thought one at a time, deep breaths. Four seconds in. Four seconds out.

Conductor. The conductor was a small robotic thing, with two eyes.

Number. There was a number on his palm. It read 423.

Exit. When it read 0, he could leave.

That's what he gathered from the video. As for the location...

Train. He was told to be on a train.

Entry. He recalled boarding some strange train before arriving here.

Impossibility. This place was vast, far and far too large for even the most ambitious of trains.

If not a train, than where was he?

He took a look around. This place was featureless as far as he could tell. White blank soil with sparse white grass stretching beyond the horizon. The sky was blue and mostly clear, only a few sparse clouds in the distance. He didn't think this was earth; That he arrived on a white space pod thing only nailed that in further. What else...He climbed out of the pod entirely, feeling the soil. Yep, that's dirt. And that's grass. Odd color aside, it was no different from earth grass. Okay, and...There, something else a ways away. Red thing. Immediately investigate the striking color.

Air. Utterly unremarkable. Breathable. That's good.

Temperature. Warm. Perfectly average. 76 Degrees, maybe?

Arrived. The red object is a door of sorts, though it doesn't seem like it would lead anywhere. It was just sitting there in the middle of a field. Hm. Odd handle. Pull...No good. Turn...No good. It had a handle, but it won't move, so it must be locked.

Key. Need to find a way to unlock it. Physical key? Or correct conditions? Hm...Well what to do next then.

Alone. I am alone. Aren't I?

Check.

"Helloooooo!!!" He shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth.

" _...Helloooooo!!!_ " An echo. Hm. Try again. He was asleep when he arrived, maybe whoever else might be here is also asleep.

"Anyone here!?" Another shout. Another pause.

" _...Yeah, What's up!?_ " That wasn't an echo, it was a response! Weird, He couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from.

"Where are you!?"

" _...Around!_ "

He rolled his eyes. "That doesn't help me! I need to find you!"

" _...I'm around! Literally!_ "

"Huh? What do you mean!?"

" _...I mean I'm Echo! I'm an Echo!_ "

What. That makes no sense. Neither does this situation. Don't dwell on it.

"Um...Okay?! Well, can you help me open this door?!"

" _...Oh yeah, Sure! Just turn the handle! Clockwise!_ "

He thought he did? He fiddled with the handle again-Oh the handle on both sides! It rotates on it's center! A little pull and he could feel the give. "Thank you Echo!!!"

" _...Wait! You haven't told me your name!_ "

"It's Lee!"

" _...Nice to meet you, Lee! Good luck!_ "

Huh. What an awfully nice echo. None of this made any sense whatsoever, but at least the nonsense is kind.

* * *

The door swung open, a gust of hot air blowing past him. It _did_ lead somewhere, somehow. Regular dimensions don't work here! Cool. So where was this instead?

Lee took a step outside, the grass replaced with hard metal. It was a train, one of titanic proportions...His ears were assaulted by the loud noise of the passing wind and the rapid wheels moving underfoot, the sounds of a mechanism of ridiculous scale.

 _ **Panic**._ No don't panic! Breathe, breath-Can't breathe. Okay don't panic _here_ , go back inside! Inside!

* * *

Lee promptly collapsed once he was within the car again, promptly curling in on himself and beginning to hyperventilate. Safe? Safe? Safe. No one here. No one except Echo.

Panic. Yes, Panic. Let it happen.

Lost. Far away from home and friends, far far away from everything else. In a place that makes no sense. With giant over-industrial sized wheels that could one hundred percent crush him into paste if he fell off. If he survived the fall. Trapped? Trapped. No easy way out is there? Exit when the number hits 0, but how? What does he need to do? _Can_ he even do it? And, what happens if he can't? What happens if? What will? Will he? What's going to? Going?

#&$? @*# ***$ &**&*%$? * **@^** $ **%#** _ **^%** @^%_$#?

Tired.

It always ends like this. Exhausted, mentally and physically. A tear soaked out of breath heap of a person, too weak to even continue crying.

It's not your fault, you know. I do know. But it's still so hard. But you're still here. Maybe here isn't a good place right now, but you're no less here than before.

Still here. Panicking won't get you home. It won't lower the number. So let's stand up, and take a step forward. One thought at a time, one step at a time. It's always forward.

* * *

Location: Unknown. This train is located somewhere dark and arid, desert in all directions.

Size: Unknown. The front nor rear of the train is visible from here, vanishing from sight. The train is long. Very, very long.

Door. There is a door to the next car. There is a way forward.

So we will take that step forward.

**{423}**


	2. Atop the Propaganda Car

"Phew! Well Gary, You got the hell out of that car! Thank god, it was starting to get Orwellian in there. Break time."

As he climbed the impressions of the train car, he took a quick moment to listen. No rumbling outside the usual, no incoming cars...Yep! It was safe. Excellent, time to enjoy the view and relax. He pulled a rolled up blanket from his pack and put it behind his head as he leaned back and relaxed, listening to the rhythm of the tracks below him.

Been a while since he had a chance to do this. Past few cars were so...busy. And this one was downright inhospitable! Luckily, the train exterior was always good for calm moment. He learned during his time there that the Ghoms tend to only approach the train if they're already actively chasing prey.

He tugged at his glove for a moment, seeing the steady green glow beneath it. Yep, still there. For some reason he always worried it'd vanish entirely, like covering it was going to ruin it.

So, what's on the agenda for today? Well, finding a replacement for his second pair of pants. The last pair he received were closer to pajamas than pants and they fell apart as soon as they got wet. Hopefully he finds a more hardy car this time around for some new clothes. Or just like, a big wardrobe car. That'd be nice. Secondly, look for more passengers. Always. That was never not on the agenda. What else...Some rope or cord, a new book would be nice since he finished the last three.

Ah yes, finding the conductor. The conductor may have changed, but his goal didn't, and now he knew the face of it.

A hum. He just heard a hum. Not a buzz, not a ghom, but a hum of a machine.

He leaned up, spotting a white pod zooming past him. _Bingo!_ New passenger! Actually, not bingo, it's never good that someone has to come here, but regardless he can make the best of this. Where was it going, did he have to chase it? No! It went only a few cars down!

"Relax time over! Work time is now! Work time is now now now now _now_!"

He knew he shouldn't be excited. He knew whoever was arriving had issues, and needed help. He knew it'd be so much better if they had just been able to get help outside the train, but _damn it_ if he didn't enjoy these moments of contact! Someone to help and guide! Someone who could help him!

Someone who needs to hit 0.


	3. The Bell Car

As Lee stepped to the next car door, his mind was abuzz with questions once again. Will what lies in this car be similar to the last? Is there any particular train of logic in what rooms lead where?

Train of logic. Train. Ha!

As he spun the handle and pulled the door open, he was greeted by a large branching cave dimly lit by what seemed to be little floating orbs of light. The cave was line with massive hanging pipe, tubular bells, from rods that seemed to protrude from random parts of the cave. Light shimmered between the bells, gold and white mixing between the bells and spheres.

It was beautiful. Otherworldly, and yet not so alien as to invite fear. Tentatively, Lee stepped forward to knock one with his knuckles, hearing the bong of the bell as it swung backwards, the smaller noises as it bounced on the other nearby bells.

Lee laughed. There was something intrinsically fun about this! He began to knock multiple, running up and down the cavern to try and make something akin to a tune on the bells. There wasn't really much of a rhythm, but he tried.

Wait, what are you doing? Yes it's fun but this doesn't lead off the train does it?

Number. 423. Unchanged.

Exit. Not visible. So let's find it.

These caves were beautiful, but not flawless. Some of the rock was cracked, some of the bells dented. Within a dead end was dozens of much smaller bells, though some of the rods they were held on were damaged, and a few lay on the ground. Hm...Lee picked one up, about the size of a tin can. Maybe this is...necessary? It is nice, golden, pretty. Do you really need a reason for everything you do? No?

He sighed, shaking off his inner thoughts before he continued to explore. It was a short ways in when he began to hear the sound of other bells. Someone else was here? He ran then, occasionally running his knuckles along the bells to announce his presence. It was when he arrived where he became confused. The presence wasn't another person, it was hammers. Little hammers on wooden legs, walking from bell to bell and swinging their heads against them to create a nice loud chime. There were easily dozens of them skittering around like insects, and yet they produced a melody together and acted in concert.

"Uh, Hey-" Lee barely got a word out when they stopped and scattered. "Wait wait wait! I don't mean any harm! I'm just looking for the door!" A pause, a few of them leaning their hammer heads out as if curious about their visitor. They understand him? "Uh, The exit door. Red, weird gold handle thing? It's so I can get this down?" He showed his hand, the green glow of the numbers illuminating the bells around him.

The little hammers promptly skittered around and behind him, hitting bells as they went. Even when moving from place to place, they made music it seemed. And now the music sounded cheerier than before as well! Were they happy to have a passenger?

It was as he followed them that they all suddenly stopped in front of one of the bells. "Uh, this isn't the exit door?" They all reared their head back as if wanting to hit this particular bell but did not swing. After a moment of waiting Lee stepped forward and gently knocked the bell. The comparatively quiet chime rung out before the little hammers rushed forward again, re-making the melody before stopping at the next bell. They were letting his participate! They would pause and let him play a note as they lead him! He began to have fun with it, running forward with them and putting more force behind his hits towards the bells to make them really ring. The hammers began to grow more excited as he joined in too, moving and playing faster.

This was joyous. Making such beautiful music with fun yet strange little creatures. When they finally reached the end, all of the creatures sat in front of the red exit door, but Lee did not open it. He instead hit it with his knuckles. The hit hurt, much harder than the bells, but it rung a loud gong like noise through the cave. The creatures began to celebrate by hitting their heads with one another to fill it with tinkling applause. Lee smiled and gave a little bow. "Thank you, thank you. Your music was beautiful!" More applause, him laughing merrily with them. This was great. This was fun.

He opened the door and was greeted again with the hot outside air. Oh yeah. Train. He was still on the Train. Still in the middle of a horrid wasteland with no way home.

Number?

419\. 419? It lowered? It lowered! Not by much, but that's progress! That's a step forward! But how did it go down? What did he do? He faffed around with some bells and little hammer guys. It was a lot of fun, yes, but how was that considered important? How did that equate to a better score?

No conclusion. Too little information. Need more information.

How to get more information? Move forward. One step at a time.

**{419}**


	4. The Rabbit Car

Bad bad bad bad bad bad _bad._

That car was the worst. That one was horrid. Never again please thank you.

Lee sighed and slid down to rest on the exterior of one of the cars. He was lucky enough to find something to keep notes on a little while ago, and began to write down his journey so far.

Empty Field, Bell Cave, Weird Jello Hallway, A place with dictionaries and weird little woodpeckers, and the most recent was the doll car. _Euugh._ They weren't even evil or anything, just creepy. The paper he was using was from an unfinished dictionary he took from the car a bit ago, acting as a nice thick notebook. Still, without a bag of sorts, it was a bit hard to keep it on hand all the time, that and the bell he kept with him.

So, playing with the hammer fellas in the bell cave lowered his number by 4 points. The jello car was...something. Kind of meaningless. When he left the dictionary car, his number went down by one more, but he didn't know _when_ it lowered. Finally he tried to make it through the doll room as fast as possible, and was unsurprised his number remained unchanged there.

418.

That number stared back at him. One less, for no reason. No, there had to be some reason. He looked ahead to the next car and shivered. What if it was the doll car but worse? What if it was filled with thorns? Or fire? No, no those thoughts don't help.

Alternate Route. Look around, is there a way to skip cars?

Ladder. Wedges on the side of the cars, present on each one. They're a bit wide apart, but they could be climbed. Not without abandoning his stuff or getting a bag first.

Risk. There was no flooring under the wedges, only the tracks and the wheels...

Don't think about it.

Don't think about it.

There is a way to skip cars, but it's dangerous. Highly inadvisable. It should only be considered if absolutely necessary. Until then, only way forward is through them.

Lee sighed, taking a moment to catch his breath. The air was always hot here, dry. Everywhere off the train was just...nothing. Salted earth. Wastes. No sun either, just dusky skies. Definitely not on earth.

Okay! Okay. No progress will be made sitting here. Let's move on. Walk to the door, take a breath, brace for the worst...

Oh.

Oh this is actually pretty nice.

Pleasantly warm and comparatively cool. Normal green grass underfoot. A bit overcast but otherwise normal sky. It was just a pleasant prairie! This was certainly an upgrade from the last car! Lee took a few steps forward and began to investigate. No door visible yet, but also no immediate danger. Just some trees, flowers, maybe a bee here and there- **Woah!**

Holes. Okay, small holes too. Lee's leg was stuck in this hole in the ground. This was annoying but no need to freak out! Just a dirt hole. As he began to adjust himself, he heard a muffled voice under the ground. "Excuse me?! Can you please remove your foot from my home?"

Oh jeez someone lived down there. Something? "I-i'm sorry! I didn't see it, I s-slipped and-!"

"Hey pal, no need to go hare-brained on me! Accident or not, just get it out of here!"

Lee shivered and sighed, anxiety bubbling up at his mistake, but he hastened his efforts to remove his leg from the hole. Eventually something small began to push at his foot until he eventually jostled it loose enough to remove his leg from the hole. After he sat down and dusted some of the dirt off, a little rabbit poked it's head out. The rabbit itself seemed like it had the smallest little pair of round glasses on.

Lee had to restrain himself. It was so, so cute?

"Ah, Thank you. I've learned to assume most people don't mean to shove their limbs into my door on purpose. Ya still did though."

"Um, Yeah, Yeah I did. I'm sorry. I-i'm Lee. I've not been here, on this train I mean, for long and-"

"Ooh! You're a Passenger! Well, apology accepted then! Just watch your step when you go further into Rabbitop!"

"R-Rabbitop?"

"Yeah! The Republic of the Rabbits and Similar Mammals! Though pretty much entirely rabbits. We have a few moles? I think?"

"W-wait, so this is a train full of talking rabbits?"

"Well yeah. What, you telling me you know a rabbit that can't talk?"

Lee thought about it. Everything he's read and seen tells him they can't, but he's never actually _met_ a rabbit before...

"So, what's your number, Strangah?"

Lee made a small noise and held his hand forward. The little rabbit hissed slightly, causing Lee's heart to sink.

"Ooohh, That's pretty high..."

Panic. "I-is that bad? H-how bad is it? I'm sorry, I-" Calm. Calm, one thought at a time, one thought-

"It's not great, But-!"

"B-but-?"

"Considering how you've behaved so far, I don't think you'll have too much trouble getting it down. Might take a bit, but I'm certain you'll get it down!"

A sniffle. Wait, was he crying? Check...No, no he wasn't. He came close though. Too close... He took a few shaky breaths and waited for his voice to stop wavering before he spoke again. "Um, Thank you, Mr. um..."

"Terry."

"Terry. Thank you, Terry. I'm still sorry for stepping in your hole. Um, Door. Uh, do you know where the exit is?"

The expression on the rabbit's face soured immediately, causing Lee to lean back. The little rabbit spoke with more poison than he thought possible. "It's in Hare Country. If you're lucky, You can just run to it before they try and stop you."

Lee just blinked. Oh god, international conflict. Inter...car, conflict. Conflict regardless, and the worst kind. "Um, Thank you. I'll be careful, and I'll watch my step."

"Best of luck, Lee!" The little rabbit shook off the poison from his words earlier and spoke as chipper as before before he vanished into his home. Lee stood up and began walking. Began to worry. What will happen when he finds this Hare Country? Will he be attacked? Captured? Even if they're just regular hares, they might still hurt him, and this train tends to break expectations...

Exit. In hare country.

Strategy. Find other Rabbits for directions until the door is visible, than leave.

Hares. Don't incite them. Avoid if possible.

Bell.

Bell?

He realized he dropped the bell when he fell. A quick turn around to find it sitting on the grass untouched. He lifted it before giving a nearby pebble a little hit, causing the bell to ting. It sounded not unlike a cowbell. He lifted it and looked inside, before he spoke into it. "Testing?" Huh? He was expecting his voice to reverberate back. He wanted to sound like Darth Vader or something, why didn't it work? Why did he want to-

"Why were you doing that?"

A shout and a flair, throwing the bell away for a moment and back pedaled. The bell spoke! Why?! He waited and braced for something else to happen, but after a moment of silence he slowly approached the bell again. He closely inspected it.

Creature? No, nothing's inside of it.

Alive? No, it's made of metal.

Technology? No, it's raw metal. No screws, wires, or panels.

Magic?...Magic? That's ridiculous.

Hm...He spoke into it again. "Hello?"

"Hello!" Same voice, different tone.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Echo, You doof!" Echo? The voice from the first car!

"How are you here? In this bell?"

"Cause I never really left? I'm an echo. I show up when your voice bounces."

"M-my echo is alive? How does that work?"

"I'unno. Not your echo though, just some echoes in general."

He paused then. "So...You'll be following me?"

"If you want. I can leave though."

"Do you want to follow me?"

"Kind of, Yeah. Haven't had a passenger visit me ever before."

Lee thought about it. "How...do you follow me?"

"I just do! But I need to be able to echo. Like...from this bell."

They were in the bell? Well, not traditionally, but as long as he had this bell he could talk to them..."Am I going crazy?"

"I'unno." Yeah that answer inspired confidence.

"Well, I'm going to keep going forward, and you can keep coming along if you want. I just want to get off this train."

"You go, I follow. You gotta speak into this thing to hear me though."

So...The Echo from the first room followed him, but can only be heard from, well, an echo. And they want to stick around. That's...nice? Good? Or he could be 100% crazy. This whole train thing is pretty outlandish. The idea of-Actually, actually don't go down that road. Don't think about it. It's only making you more anxious. Just...Let's just find the door and leave. Maybe the next car won't have warring countries of talking animals. Maybe it'll just be weird but otherwise quiet like that Jello room. Maybe he'd like that. Yes, he would, he decided.

**{418}**


	5. The Hare Car

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm writing this free-form and as it comes to me. Any critique is welcome!

"I tell yah, Not a one thing good since those Rabbits made themselves known! Not a one thing!"

"Jeez, seems a little harsh if you ask me. I mean, sure they like some of the things you don't, and yeah it sounds like they're being jerks too. But war? That's a step too far."

"A step that needs to be taken! If it means putting those...little...hole dwelling good-for-nothing furballs down a notch!"

"People die in wars, you know that?"

"Hares don't!"

"Ah...Man. Hey, do you know anything about Australia? Don't worry if you don't, it's someplace off the train. Well, they had a problem with rabbits and hares both-Terrible, I know!-And they decided to do a war too..."

* * *

Lee had a new carrot shaped pen to add to his collection of things. He spoke to a few more rabbits on his way to the exit, but now he had officially crossed into Hare Country. No holes, but much more visible hares. The rabbits have told him a whole lot of horror stories, but they were beginning to grow contradictory. A sort of familiar sort of contradictory, actually..."Um, Excuse me?"

"Hm? Hey, Who're you and why're you approachin us from Rabbitop?!"

"I-i was just passing through! I'm just looking for the exit. Um, I'm a passenger, I'm just trying to get to the next car and get this number down."

The green glow reflected in the Hare's eyes. He squinted at Lee suspiciously. "Well, I know you're a passenger...As long as you're not doing any favors for the rabbits and just passing through!" They turned and pointed a ways off. "See the Orarch?"

"The what?"

"The Orarch! Orange Arch! It's the big stone thing!" Oh. Yeah, it was pretty visible, the orange was out of place. "The exit is right past that."

"Thank you! Um, also, do you know where I can get a spare bag, I'm sort of carrying-" He promptly noticed the orange carrot pen was visible from within the bell, promptly cupping his hand over it to hide it. "A-all sorts of stuff, and I need my hands free for later!" Calm. Smile. Not like that.

The Hare blinked. "Well, I know Marge has been getting into wicker recently. Maybe she'll have a spare basket?"

"Oh, that'd be great! Thank you!" Walk off. Act natural. Distance. Distance. Distance...Good. Clear. Crisis averted! He was terrified they'd get the wrong idea if they saw the rabbit's little gift. So the exit was beyond that orange rock thing? The Orarch. He couldn't decide if that was silly or kind of cool. Focus. Head to the exit and keep an eye out for a hare with wicker _Who is That._

Who is that.

On top of the arch. Black hood. Backpack. Boots. Gloves. Can't see their face.

Humanoid. They are not a rabbit or hare.

Outfit. Very much unfitting for this car, and menacing. Meant to intimidate?

Gloves. Can't see a number or glow. Passenger? Something else?

_I don't know what to do about this._

He knew what not to do, and that was panic. That'd leave him loud and easy to find. And...crying. In front of people. So let's just...act natural. Walk straight towards the exit, don't look at him _Oh dear god he's walking straight towards me._

Keep walking keep walking keep walking _He's getting closer **ABORT**_

The hooded figure raised a hand. "Hey-"

"AAAAAAAAAH-!" Lee screamed, promptly running in the opposite direction. Run run run turn here further further HIDE. Stay put. Wait. Wait and sit still.

"Uh, Hello?" OH NO HE'S CLOSE. "Hey, whoever you are, I'm not going to hurt you or anything. You a passenger too?"

Lee shook from the spot he was hiding behind, a large rock-Oh GOD it wasn't tall enough, the top of his head was visible! He's seen you, say something! "YEP!!!"

The hooded man simply took a step back at that. "Uh...Okay, cool. We have that in common. Can I walk over there to look at you?"

Polite. He's asking first.

Comforting. He's hiding the fact that he sees me.

Possibility that he is trying to lure me into a false sense of security...But there are no other options at the moment. "Y-yeah...?"

The man stepped around. His hood had been pulled down, revealing his face. He seemed maybe a little older than Lee, not by much. Dark skin, hair tied back into a ponytail, thick eyebrows. Their cloak was ratty now that Lee had a closer look at it, full of little holes and patchwork. Their backpack seemed more solid at least, not to mention filled to bursting. His boots were...wait, were those just boots? They went up awfully high. Rubber overalls perhaps? When they spoke again, they held a hand forward. "I'm Gary. You?"

"Uh...Lee. I'm Lee." He grabbed his hand, and was surprised to find himself yanked up, though his hand was shook normally once he was standing.

"Pleasure to meet ya, Lee! How long have you been aboard?"

"The train? I think...a day, maybe?"

"Woah, Real fresh then. You know how to get _off_ the train?"

Oh no, did this Gary need help? Lee was not the one to provide. "Um...T-the little intro video said when our number hits 0, we can leave."

"Bingo! But let me guess, you don't know how to lower your number, right?"

Oh thank goodness Gary was helping him instead. "Yeah, I don't get it! It's gone down a little, but I don't know why!"

"Well Lee, be glad you ran into me. I got it all figured out. You can think of that number as your Karma. The lower, the better! If you're kind and generally a nice person, it'll go down some. If you're a jerk, it'll go up."

"S-so I just...have to be nice? Is this some call to adventure thing?"

"Oh no, not at all. Like, you should be nice anyway, but you don't have to be some big brave hero. And it's more complicated than that. In order to get the number to 0, you gotta do more than just be nice to others. You gotta be nice to yourself. The train brought you on because you have some sort of problem, not about to ask what cause it's not my business."

"Problem? I-i don't have a problem! I-i mean I have really bad anxiety but I'm going to therapy for it! What problem!"

"I dunno! But the train thinks you have one, and it's trying to help. Trying being the key word here, I don't fully understand what it's doing like 80% of the time."

"So it thinks I have some sort of problem, and it's given me this number-"

"Oh wow, it started pretty big."

"I KNOW! And if I solve this problem while not being a jerk, I go home?"

"Pretty much. It sucks, I know. Been here a while and I still don't really know what this train's deal is."

"Why are you here? I-i don't mean like, what's you problem! Not that I'm saying you have a problem-!" Gary began to chuckle at that, causing Lee to groan and breathe for a moment before continuing. "But I mean, You're a passenger too, so why didn't you move to the next car? Were you...waiting for me?"

"Yes, actually. Not you specifically, but I knew a passenger was coming through here."

"Oh...Why?"

"Same reason as why you're moving. To get my number down." They lifted their hand and pulled their glove up slightly, revealing the bottom bracket of the glowing green number, the actual digits hidden away. "I've uh...not always been the best person. Fell into the wrong crowd. Shot my number way, way up. So I've been trying to find other passengers and help them out, do good to balance out the bad from before."

Lee tilted his head as if trying to see the actual number, failing to see it under the glove. "Is that why the actual number is covered?"

"Yeeeaaahh. It's really bad, and looking at it is kind of discouraging, you know? So I just have faith that I'm slowly working it off."

Honest about past. Reason to not harm. Very kind. Kind of cute. Yeah, Lee could trust them he thought. "Sooo...How do you intend to help?"

"Well. You seem to be traveling alone-"

"Not quite but I'll explain in a moment, go on."

"Oohkay. Anyway, I was going to offer to tag along! With the idea being if we don't get along we can just split up and move on. I've been on here an awful long time, I know my way around."

Lee thought for a moment. An experienced guide? Offering to help him? To protect him?

Well...On one hand that's obviously a huge help. On the other, Gary doesn't know anything about him. He doesn't know the panic attacks, or his interests. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Yes, Okay! I'm cool with you helping me out! But we literally just met, so it's weird?"

"Yes, it is weird. How about we talk while we walk to the exit? Talk about...pfff, I dunno. You play any video games?

"Oh, yeah, a few. Got Mantra Droid 3, came out a bit ago."

"They made a third one?! I've been on here too long!"

" **HALT! INTERLOPER!** " That made them both stop, the two turning to see a horde of hares rushing at them. One in the front shouted above the rest. "HE'S THE ONE WITH THE CARROT! HE'S WORKING WITH THE RABBITS!"

Gary turned and grabbed Lee's sleeve. "Time to go!"

Lee didn't have time to shout or question what was going on, already being dragged by Gary. He stumbled and barely stayed upright, but he kept up regardless as Gary ran under the arch and into the red door. The last thing he heard before the door opened was the hares screaming about deserting cowards before the sound of the moving train drowned out the rest of their protests.

**{406}**


End file.
